a long day of tough questions for president obama's defense secretary nominee, chuck hagel. it was his senate confirmation hearing. and up with of the most contentious moments came when hagel's old friend, and former colleague, senator john mccain, asked whether the 2007 u.s. troop surge in iraq, which you may recall, hagel had called, in his words, the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam, he asked whether that surge had ultimately been successful. >> the question is, were you right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. i would like to answer whether you were right or wrong, and then you are free to elaborate. >> well, i'm not going to give you a yes or no answer on a lot of things. >> let the record show that you refuse to answer that question. now, please go ahead. >> well, if you would like me to explain why -- >> no, i actually would like an answer. yes or no. >> well, i'm not going to give you a yes or no. >> another hot topic at the hearing today, it was a 2006 interview that hagel gave to former middle east peace negotiato